Dear Watchers: an omniversal comic book podcast

Well, if I told you once, I told you a hundred times. Welcome to Dear Watchers. It's Omniversal comic book podcast where we do a deep dive into the multiverse.

Yes, we are traveling with you on so many journeys through the stories and the worlds that make up an omniverse of fictional realities we all love. And, uh, your watchers on this journey for the hundredth time are me, Keto.

And you can call me Ben Franklin because I'm a hundred. Or you could also call me Rob because that's my name.

Ben Franklin. I don't know if that worked. I would have gone with someone who was celebrating a centennial this year that makes it sound like Ben Franklin is 100. For a second, I was like, that can't be true.

I have no idea who is celebrating their centennial.

That could have been some research we did for this episode.

That's true. Norman Lear. It is Norman Lear. And if you're joining us here at Deer Watchers for the first time, well, this is a weird episode to join on, but we are very happy to have you.

Yes, it's weird because it's a little different format, so keep listening. But you might want to check out some of our regular episodes, and we're going to share about plenty of those because while we have had 105 episodes before this one, we only have had 99 of our standard episodes. So this is 100. 100, 100.

Yay. Another dated reference would be if Willard Scott was still alive, he could read out our name on the Today Show.

I think you said that last week. Didn't.

Did I say that?

I don't know, you said or something about maybe Nikki Rooney. I don't know. There was someone you made some joke about a birthday thing and, uh, I didn't know what you were talking about.

Yeah, you never saw that every uh, week.

I might have, but this is it. We're celebrating. And we're celebrating with a bit of an alternate format. We have Countdowns Galore for our episode because we are just excited to share. Oh, gosh, you need stop. We're going to count down your hundred worst puns. And that would be from, like, the last three episodes.

I'd say, uh, have coffee this morning.

Since our show started, which was July 14, 2021. So not quite two years when this new episode comes out, but close to two years ago, multiversal storytelling has exploded. And it's cool because it's one of the things that we talk about with our guests every time we do an interview episode. But it was fun for us to think about what exactly has happened since we started. And I'm not saying that we caused multiverses to become so popular, but I also can't say with certainty that we didn't.

We didn't. And in some other multiverse, we 100% did.

So none of these multiversal highlights we're going to share are the first of their kind. In fact, we loved things like Russian doll that came before our show. It's probably part of what was in my head when I was thinking about this format of the show. And you thought about putting Rick and Morty on this list. They started multiverses long before us. So we just wanted to share, though, some of the highlights since July 14, 2021, about multiverses and the way they've shown up in popular culture.

Yeah. So really, this is so interesting. When we went back and looked at when we premiered, but actually, I think.

It was an accident, but maybe it was on purpose.

And we both incursion in the timeline because, uh, on the day of our very first episode the day that very first episode came out, was the finale of, uh, Loki season one.

That deserves some applause. Yeah, it's so crazy to me that we didn't realize it until I looked it up. We must have realized it at some point. But it's cool just because Loki really exploded. The MCU's timeline probably brought multiverses to a wide audience. And then the next month was August 2021. The what if TV series debuted? So hot on the heels, MCU is ready to say, like, uh, we just want to play with the alternate versions. And while neither of us love that series, it's fun that it exists. And maybe a second season will be better.

Yeah, whenever that comes back, I feel like we've been waiting on it for, well, literally almost a year now.

No, two years. Two years.

Two years.

Oh my God.

Two years. Yeah. Wait a second. And then outside of the comic book world, there was the movie last night in Soho that came out in October 2021 and dealt, uh, very much with parallel worlds.

Yeah. And of course, it makes sense that Edgar Wright would do that, but it's fun that it was in a totally different genre than we're used to seeing in superhero comic books. Because of course, then, uh, the classic at this point, to a lot of people, spiderman no Way Home came out in December 2021, really exploded the multiverse across franchises and across the world, because.

It'S the 6th highest grossing movie at the box office worldwide ever. So suddenly, literally anyone who had not been thinking about multiverses, like most people, had suddenly seen a movie that was dealing with this topic, which is pretty remarkable.

Well, and then the same thing happened four months later, because in March 2022, you and I saw a little film, uh, in the theater. It was one of our first times going back to the, I think cinema after COVID, and we saw everything everywhere, all at once. And that really because of the way it grew and exploded, especially in awards season that just took over. And the multiverse was suddenly something that wasn't limited to MCU or comics.

Yeah, those two movies, one with the award, the critical acclaim, the art house crowd, and then one with the general box office. I think those two things together were really hitting up, uh, multiverses. And then the next movie even had multiverse in the title. So they were even making it more apparent. And that was in May 2022. We got dr. Strange and the multiverse of madness.

Yes. And then fast forward to about a year later because Spiderman Across the Spiderverse just opened. And I'm sure there's been little blips along the way, but that is a huge, huge opening, a huge film. The first one, obviously, started the multiverse franchise for Sony's Animated World. But this one, without spoilers, does a whole lot more in the multiverse. I think there are something like over 300 variants that show up in this movie, which is not a spoiler. We see it in the trailer. But my gosh, so multiverses were amazing in that we have The Flash that we're going to be seeing in just a few weeks there's.

So Michael Keaton that everyone is super excited for.

And Zack Snyder's, Justice League World. So there's all sorts of playing with the multiverse there. Uh, I was just reading about a TV show called Dark Matter on Apple TV, which is like a serious Sci-Fi drama, but about a, uh, scientist who finds it's based on a book. And it's all about the multiverse, the whole thing. So it's just cool that in the last two years of the show, multiverses have become just common. Even language people, uh, everyone knows what a multiverse is. You no longer need to explain it, which is really cool.

Way too many think pieces, I think. I was looking through and seeing some titles, how Multiverse Can Save Storytelling. How multiverses can ruin how it's a.

Lazy I kept seeing those when I was doing this research, too. How It's a lazy storytelling, blah, blah, blah. Yes, but what should be clear from people who've listened to our show or go back and listen, is it is not new. It is not a new device. Not even outside of comics is it new. There's Sci-Fi stories and pulp and fantasy and so many things that have dealt with multiverses and alternate universes. And as we've explored on 100 episodes, so much potential, good and bad, but there is so much potential for creativity. So we love them. We're excited that they've grown larger in the world.

I was going to say, usually you could kind of consider this our birthday, right? Because it's 100 episodes, and usually we would get a gift on our birthday. But I think that we're actually giving a gift to our listeners more than the gift of just hearing us every week, which is a gift unto itself.

That was a drum roll for the gift. I should have done the drum for the joke, though, because you were making a joke there, too. I wasn't fast enough on the soundboard. And as our regular listeners know, we try to minimize our editing in post production, so we're going to leave that there. But you are right, we are giving people gifts. And we have a few gifts. We got a little delayed for our patrons, but our patrons who've been waiting to hear from us for a while now, we actually have some neat little loot boxes on a theme of sleepover trading supplies. And we're excited to share that. We'll share more as we start sending those out to our coffee patrons. We got a bit delayed, but they're getting boxes, boxes of goodies. And we're really excited with what we've thought about picking and putting in there. And we've started that. So in the next few weeks, we'll get those to all the amazing people who have been supporting us month after month at coffee, which you can get to through Dearwatchers.com. So we're really excited about that. But that's not all, because everyone, regardless of your ability or choice to support us on coffee as a patron, deserves a little giveaway. And so we have a whole bunch of comic book bundles. As our listeners know, I have a couple thousand doubles in my comic collection. Just double.

Yesterday a box of comics arrived and there was a double in it that you had ordered new.

There were two copies in it is what you mean to say.

Yes, exactly.

There are two copies in the same box from the same order. I accidentally ordered two things. So I do have a lot of doubles from buying lots and just over buying, as you describe. So what we are going to do is we have bundled these up into a few special bundles. Rob, why don't you describe the bundles and then I'll explain how our listeners can win them.

So first up, there is an MCU Spec bundle.

Yes. So we are going to put together some of the books that have to do with storylines that have already been in the MCU and some that have been hinted at. And we're going to gather those key books together for an MCU Spec bundle.

And coming up fast behind Marvel, maybe everyone's new favorite, is it it's the DCU Spec bundle.

Yes. So we'll do the same thing with.

That mhm and then OOH, super special because I know you've got some fancy people in here. It's a signed bundle.

Yes, we're going to bundle up a bunch of signed books. And this is really solid stuff. I don't want to spoil the whole thing. We'll slowly release what's in these bundles to tease people, but we get a lot of people to sign stuff at Comic Cons. Being based in New York helps with that. Even being based in New York means that a lot of the comic stores in New York get signed books. So we have some of the really hottest people today and of the last few decades of comics that we are excited to put together in a signed book bundle. And of course, for our last bundle, we have an Else Worlds and what if bundle. Maybe we'll even throw some Amalgam in there. But we have a great alternate universe bundle we'll put together. So we have four bundles of comics that we are excited to give away. And what we're going to do is in random episodes throughout the summer, you will get instructions. You'll get a secret thing you have to do, and that will enter you into a bundle. So you're going to have to listen to every episode this summer. I hate to break it to you, but if you are planning on just listening to this and winning, well, I'm sorry, it's not going to work for you.

Listen, M, it's mow the lawn season. Put us on in your ears, strap on that lawn mower, and win some prizes.

Yes. So while you're mowing the lawn, if that's how you listen to your podcast, then make sure you tune in. Because again, what we're going to do with these four really awesome bundles we're happy to share as giveaways is give you instructions in four different episodes over the next few months. So listen, in this summer, we are giving bundles away, and we are excited to share them with you. So what else are we doing in addition? Well, to frame our countdowns, let's say.

So we're going to be counting down our ten Most Listened to episodes since we started the podcast.

All right? So we're going to go two by two, and we're going to intersperse a few other fun countdowns along the way. So let's get into our first segment. All right, our 10th Most Listened to episode. Uh, and this is Memory Lane for those who listened and a recommendation for those who didn't. What if Superman's rocket from Krypton landed in Gotham and he became Bruce Wayne, aka Batman? And that was with special guest Lance from comic bookkeepers.

That was episode 89 from March 2023.

Of course, it was such a pleasure having Lance join us. Lance prompted that issue. But what was really cool was totally unintentionally. Accidentally, coincidentally, we released that episode and found out that a week later, the McFarland Toys, speeding Bullets, Batman was being released. So really cool to talk about this amazing design, this unique world and character and then see that the toy was just about to be out. So very cool.

And it's funny when everyone was making fun of the Martha and Martha thing in the Zack Snyder movie, but then when you see Cal dressed as Batman, you go, wait, Cal looks just like Bruce. They do look exactly alike.

Yeah. So it was fun to explore that. And our number nine episode most listened to, what If Buffy was the last vampire Slayer in 30 years, aka old Woman Buffy?

That was from episode 81, from January 2023. You are a Buffy super fan. I am a Buffy fan as well. Not nearly as big as you. And for years now, there's always been this speculation, as we've seen so many TV shows come back, oh, is Sarah Michelle Geller going to be Buffy again? And she's kind of said, no, she doesn't really want to do it. And this comic is a great way to get Sarah as Buffy without getting her on the screen.

My dream is that basically Fox Disney owns a majority stake, I think still in Boom Studios, where the license for these comics are. And my hope is that this is all just a secret plan to get her back. So I hope you're right.

I think you might be right.

All right, so our first countdown that's not our own episodes. We are going to talk about two things we each have learned about ourselves doing this show. And I'll start, actually.

Sure.

Uh, because my first thing is about why this is the first countdown on today's episode, actually, which is I learned that I can share more about myself. And I think I'm a pretty open person in my life, but I am very boundaried. Some of it probably has to do with working in a school and what my boundaries are, because I do that work. And I have seen throughout this show the way that, uh, listeners and friends we've met on it have responded more when I choose to share more. And that's been really fun, and I've appreciated that. So one thing I learned about myself is just that I can share more. I can step outside of my boundaries more. And that doesn't mean, uh, that it's a problem. That's my first thing.

Cool thing about podcasts is you really get to know the people that you're listening to every week. So that makes a lot of sense.

What's the first thing you learned about yourself on our countdown today?

Reading all of these books, some of the what if, some of the else worlds are super serious, and I think they use that opportunity to take the characters in a darker direction. But what I really learned reading all these books is I do really like a bit of humor in my storytelling. And I think it's really important to find that balance and kind of maybe to suck you in with the humor, then maybe hit you with something harder afterwards. And I think it's one of the things that's made even the MCU movie so strong is that humor. So I think really growing or appreciating or realizing the importance of humor in storytelling.

Yeah, you've always liked comedy a lot, and I think it's funny as someone who I think likes the more either serious or dark stories than you do, what I've learned through your almost need, but certainly appreciation for humor is that that doesn't have to take away, it doesn't have to make something light or frivolous. It's almost like, more real when there's humor in it, because think of us as human beings even when someone dies, you can find yourself laughing in grief with someone. And so I think that humor is really important in making storytelling just more real.

Totally. Yeah. What about you?

What's your other my second is really related to that, I'd say, which is that I think I knew this about myself. Obviously, I I chose to start this show and came up with the concept for us. But I have a really, really deep connection to Story. And it just is clear to me every single time we are examining Story. And it's clear to me that that's why I love meta storytelling so much. I love anything that is about the story. And I'm even thinking about we've been watching a ton of the season and series finales recently. Ted Lasso and succession, and The Yellow Jacket season finale, which was called storytelling, and the Mrs. Davis probably series finale. And in all of those, the thing that gets me at just this emotional core is the construction of narrative and the power of narrative and what the creators are doing with story and how the story resonates. And then certainly when there's something that's about story and how we tell stories, it just calls to me immediately. And I don't know why that is. I don't think I'm unusual. I think that's true for a lot of people. But it definitely holds a really special place and lives in my brain and my soul when I get to explore Story. And I've realized that more and more in this show.

And I think, what if or else world that's core to who they are because they're playing with your expectations. If you don't have those expectations, then they can't even be incredibly effective.

Yeah. And they're playing with tropes, so then you have the meta element. And I've always loved the website TV Tropes, which I feel like was one of the early websites of the Internet and still exists. I just love learning about storytelling, tropes, because then as a consumer, you can start to see the way the creator is present and engaging you. And I love that. What is the second thing you've learned about yourself before we move on?

Well, I was always an actor growing up and went to theater school and did some acting, but really don't do that anymore. And I think it's just the performing aspect of this podcast. I love coming up with my lame puns, not so funny puns that I have in. But, yeah, it's just fun to be.

They're also rarely scripted. Right. Very improvisational. Sometimes you'll think of one and take a note, I'll see you, but often, no.

Yeah. And it's that thinking off the cuff kind of thing, which we don't always get to do in our lives. Even if we love what we do at work, it can become rote. And something like this is, oh, you got to actually be in the moment and speaking. And I think that's just having those conversations and I think that's just very exciting to me. It's something that we don't really get too much in the rest of our days.

Yeah. All right, enough about us. Back to the worlds of multiversal storytelling. Let's get to the next two episodes in our countdowns and our next two most listened to episodes number six. What if the Fantastic Four had made it to the Moon and other retold origins, including Full Circle by Alex Ross?

That's episode 61 for September 2022. You just mentioned Alex Ross with kingdom come.

Yes, and this was another, well, intentional timing, this one. But like our speeding bullets, this one maybe, perhaps is one of our higher listens because we released it the week that Full Circle came out. And even though Full Circle wasn't our focus, it's a beautiful piece of art, but our focus was actually our first major humor and parody look, uh, at an alternate universe. So that was a fun one. And our number five most listened to episode is what if Spiderman had joined the Fantastic Four? What episode was that?

That was episode one from July 14, 2021.

Yes. So we used what if number one to kick our series off. And we have never gone back and listened to that. My guess is it's too long. So if you've listened to that, well, I'm glad you're back and listening to number 100 because we tried to get a little more concise and bring more stuff in. But I'm sure it's fun. I hope it's fun. It was fun to make, but yeah, we've talked about maybe going back and even revising them or doing remastered versions or updating them, but we haven't done that yet. Thanks for enjoying episode number one.

Yeah. I don't even remember what we talked about. Well, Spiderman Fantastic Four, but that's about it.

That's because this has been a really long two years in our world.

That's true.

All right, our next countdown, we are going to look at three of our favorite alternate universes that are not based in comic book properties. So why don't you kick us off?

Well, I had to include this because it's one of my all time favorite movies, and I think it's a great alternate universe. And that is RoboCop, the Paul Verhoven film. And it's one of those great things where it's not too different from our universe, but it's different enough. And I know in New York City, we also just got robot dog police officers, so it's also kind of becoming reality, which is another key thing, I think, about so many alternate universes.

So you picked it as an alternate universe, not as a story that deals in alternate universes. Or does it? I don't remember.

No, it doesn't deal at all with alternate universes. But to me, it is our universe, but a little bit removed. And it also has that great satire, which I think alternate universes can really do really well.

All right. Well, I guess that's similar to what I'll make my first pick here, which is my favorite book, um, of all time, Ever and Forever, which is the book Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. Also, I love the Wachowski's film, Cloud Atlas. You should see the film. You should read the book. Both are amazing, and they are both very different. But Claude Atlas, like RoboCop, is not quite an alternate universe story, although, because of its very broken narrative structure and the fact that it takes place over time and you have these strands of stories, and you're only getting part of the story. At each layer, the structure is very cool and maybe has a little bit, I'd say, to do with, like, an alternate universe. Sensibility. But it's not explicitly alternate universes, but it is a, uh, universe that is basically ours until you get to the near future and far future. And then, of course, it's not ours. And I love this story so much, we have not been able to talk about it on the show. We'll have to find a way to shoehorn it in somehow. I don't know how. There's never been a comic book adaptation of it. There should be, but I love it, and so it is one of my favorite alternate universes that's not based in comics. What's your second?

Yeah, we didn't consult beforehand, so yours are more dealing with alternate universe stories, and mine are more what I think of as being alternate universes to ours. So there's some elements of our universe, but it's different enough. And then my next choice is the film Streets of Fire, which I just love this movie somewhat in the past of the 50s, early 60s, somewhat in the future. It's got rock and roll. It's got greasers, and it's just a wild, super crazy movie that I, uh, think anyone should watch. It's one of those ones where it is its own world. We see, oh, there's the 80s rocker. There's the 50s rocker. There's the biker gang. It's all little things that we know, but they're all mashed together.

It's almost like it's taking place at, uh, the nexus of all realities.

Exactly. Very much so. It is a Walter Hill movie, so definitely check that out if you haven't watched it. So not dealing with alternate universe storylines, but very much an alternate universe to the one we live in.

My next choice, which is dealing with alternate universe storylines because I'd followed the instructions, is his Dark Materials. His Dark Materials does deal in alternate universes. While I don't want to spoil it, but you think you're in a slightly different universe, uh, at first, and you're like, oh, I'll just suspend disbelief. But alternate universes do start to play a role, and I will not spoil more because the book series by Philip Pullman is one of my favorites. Really extraordinary, really deep, deep commentary on soul and spirit and religion. And the trajectory of our world's history as it relates to religion, and a great adaptation from the BBC and HBO that you and I need to watch the final season of mhm.

Yes. And that one does both. You get alternate universe and alternate universe in the way I'm describing it. All in one.

Exactly. All right, what's your last pick for not following the instructions, but kind of ultimate universe?

Well, my last pick also a show on HBO, also BBC or a lot of British people. And it is a show that I think a lot of people slept on you and I didn't watch it right away. And it's a show called years and years that was created by Russell t davies. And this is an amazing show. I think about this show all the time. And this is one of those takes where it's not about alternate universes, but it feels like almost a what if.

Story where what it is disturbingly close to our universe, and even it's made before the pandemic and even predicts a pandemic. I mean, it is so disturbingly close to our world, uh, that it's uncomfortable, but in a compelling way.

But also then does deal a bit with the kind of alternate universe storytelling you're saying, because it also goes into a bit of talking about technology and AI stuff that we're actually only dealing with now with what if you could put your consciousness into a computer and be everywhere, which is almost an alternate universe onto itself. And I think it's only like six episodes, so it's a pretty quick watch. It's not an easy watch, I should say, because you and I were bawling at some of the episodes. But everyone should definitely check it out, especially if you're into stories like I am, where it's like, oh, this is our world, and just, uh, a couple of tics in a different direction. That's the kind of storytelling I really love.

All right. And my last pick just had to be everything, everywhere, all at once. And I don't need to say more. We talked about it being a part of the Zeitgeist. We actually did a special episode on it that people can go listen to right after we saw it. We did a special episode, so back in March of 2022. Love this movie. I'll always love this movie. It's not just about the moment we're in. I've even rewatching it when we did, I don't know, two months ago for the fourth 5th time. It resonates with me in so many ways. It's a brilliant, beautiful piece. So love that. All right, on to the next episodes we have that you have listened to the most and our fourth most listened to episode by you, our listeners is well timed to announce right now during Pride month because it was our creator interview with Luciano Vecchio, the artist, writer, creator on so many things but Marvel Pride, DC Pride, X Men, Iceman. Sereno and much more that we talked about.

That was episode 86 from February 2023. And Guido, wasn't Luciano just interviewed by CNN?

He wasn't interviewed. He actually got to write a piece about queer superheroes. And it's, um, very cool. We posted it on our Twitter. You can find it on CNN online. You can find it on Luciano's social media. Very cool that he had the opportunity to do that. He is an incredible artist and creator, and that conversation was really meaningful to me. We hit on a lot of stuff I love, and I hope that we get to do it again with him soon, because it was really awesome to talk to him. And our number three most listened to episode is What If? Starring Hulk the man, the monster, aka what if Bruce Banner was the monster and Hulk was some peaceful being made of star energy? That was with special guest Ethan Make. Mine amalgam.

Episode 63 from September 22. And I have to say, I'm a bit surprised about this.

I don't know why people are listening to this one. I know, but I don't know.

Ethan's amazing. Of course. He's been on the show many times. He recommended this episode. I don't really remember a whole lot of what's going on. I remember Bruce turns evil because he never becomes the Hulk, so it takes over him. And then there's a star being, and.

It has domestic abuse in it.

Oh, my gosh, I forgot about that.

I'm not sure why this is our third most listened to, but yay, hope you're enjoying it.

There hasn't been a Hulk movie, right? So people are just craving Hulk stories wherever they can get them.

Maybe. All right, so on to our next countdown, our second to last countdown. Let's take a moment and count down our favorite episodes. And we can do it in no particular order. We just chose three of our favorite episodes. I'll start us off because we just talked about the interview with Luciano Vecchio, and I'm going to highlight that. And I appreciate everyone that we've interviewed. And this is not about that interview being any better than others, but that conversation just was really special. That was one of the episodes where I remember someone who is a great friend of the show and friend to me now, Jake from spectales said that just he felt like he knew me more in that conversation, and that meant a lot to me. And a lot of that was because the conversation with Luciano was really hit on a lot of stuff I love. So that is one of my picks.

And we. What is Luciano at New York? Comic Con. So it's just the cool thing about, oh, this is what this community can do. You can be connected to these people, to amazing folks like him through events like that.

So what is one of your favorite picks?

The episode I constantly go back to because I thought this was such a fun story, is our Khazar episode, which is, uh, what if New York City remained the savage land forever? I would have never thought I was a Khazar fan. And this storyline is kind of crazy because it's like, what if Khazar and Sheena fought? Thanos that is not a combination that you'd think. But this episode just did everything that I think a what if can do really well. And going back to what we were saying earlier, there's so much great humor. I keep thinking, wow, if they want to adapt this story or this character to the screen, this is the story. This is the tone to look to, especially Khazar's kind of semi evil brother, who is I would love to see, uh, in the MCU. And I'd love to see him played by Glenn Howerton, which I said at the time, but I still think would be perfect casting.

And this is one of the episodes that will not surprise our listeners. But after we listen to I have been, uh, tracking down Kzar issues everywhere I can. Got the Kzar first appearance. Got KZR and X Men. I've been really tracking those down because I loved it too. My next pick, though, I'm going to go with, uh, either of our episodes with Randall Lotowich. So Randall has also, again become a great friend of the show and a friend we got to talk to him first about his DC Book of Lists, which I think is just one of the coolest projects out there. I love it. I love looking at it. I love referring to it. People should check it out. And then he joined us to talk about Legion of Superheroes. I also had to pick this because as our regular listeners know, because I've slowly shared this. But I'm not big at talking about myself, as we've already talked about. But thanks to Randall, randall, I can now also call Randall my editor, because he and I have worked together on a Spider Man book out this October. And a book that has to be yet to be announced that will be out, hopefully next year that I've been working on. And those have been incredible, amazing projects. And that's all because Randall's awesome and we got to work with him. And I've loved that. So I had to put that in.

Here because future giveaways.

Yeah, it's true. Those are future giveaways. And, uh, that has changed my life. So that is very cool. What is your next pick?

My next pick is a story you usually set our agenda on the podcast, no denying that. But this is what I chose. And it is what if The Punisher's family had not been killed? And one thing I like about this a lot, is The Punisher is all about everything about The Punisher is that his family was killed. And so this is the perfect what if. And it's like, okay, let's just change that one thing. They didn't go into the bushes in the park that day and his whole life changes. But it's got that classic what if Twilight Zone thing where at the end of the day, it's always going to come full circle, that some things are inevitable, which is a great theme, I think we've talked about here. And I love that later in the 6116, they've also played with bringing back his family. So I think this comes to me, this episode, this story comes to the essence of what I think, uh, a what if story can be fun.

Um, my last pick is probably recency Bias, but I'm going with our Spider Punk episode from last week, episode 99. And I just think it was a lot of fun. I think, uh, we both discovered a love of a character that we didn't know a lot about. It's a great series, a great character, good timing, of course, because then seeing him in a cross spiderverse made it that much more fun to have just explored who he is and how his alternate origin functions. And it was just a really great episode. So if anyone is still listening to this and has never listened to our show before, just go one week back and I think you'll get a good feel for our show. I love that episode.

Mhm, and my last one is our one year anniversary. So here we are on our 100th episode, but our one year anniversary, we had a really amazing pub quiz that we did with some friends of the show. And I love quizzes, I love trivia. So it was really fun on one level to kind of put that show together, and on another level to have people who have become friends through being on the podcast through Twitter and just have that fun moment together and be live talking.

I mean, it was so cool to assemble this group of people and, uh, the fact that everyone made themselves available, that was cool.

So if you've listened to now 100 episodes, or maybe you haven't listened to all them, but they'll go back and listen to that one and play along and see how well you do.

All right, onward. We are in the home stretch. Our number two most listened to episode what if prince Namor the Submariner, aka Cuckoo Khan of Atlantis, aka Talocan, grew up on land? And that was with special guest Bottermilligan of the Short Box Conkbook talk show.

That was episode 71 from November 2022.

And that was, again, I think, a thing of timing. It's clear that timing matters quite a bit in the world of podcasts and how many people listen. But it might also have been Bottter, because Bottter has an extraordinary show that he has been doing for eleven years or ten plus years now, which is amazing in podcast land, that is quite a stretch. So it was an honor to have Bottter join us and then to join him on his show because he is just a podcast hero at this point.

And that episode has underwater Nazis.

It does. Nazi robots.

Underwater Nazi robots. Come on. Right there. That's comic books in one phrase right there. Underwater Nazi robots.

Let's take a slight detour. Before we get to our number one most listened to episode, I would like to share the sadder three least listened to episodes that we've ever recorded. And, uh, luckily, none of them are interviews, so we don't have to worry about, uh, offending anyone who knows why these are our least listened to interview episodes. Maybe they're terrible, but you would have had to listen to it to know that. So I'm not sure what the explanation really is, but our third least listened to episode was, what if Ghost Rider was a villain?

Mhm. That's episode 14, a series which you'll hear more about here.

Again, so don't know why that was. Uh, but M, go check it out if you want. Let us know if it sucks. Maybe it does. All right, our second least listen to episode this one surprises me, I have to say. This one is what if the Fantastic Four went to the Land of Oz?

Yes, that's episode 2022. We're big.

It's just episode 22. We haven't 2000 yet. We're getting there, but we're not there yet.

And we're both big. Wizard of Odd wizard of Oz fans We're Big Fantastic Four fans. But, yeah, maybe not everyone is.

Or maybe we needed to have put wizard of Oz in the title of the episode so people could find it.

Very true. Yes. Land of Oz. Maybe they thought they were going to Australia.

And our, uh, least listened to episode ever was, what if Captain Marvel was a villain?

That's episode 16. And it's also not the female Captain Marvel. It's not shazam Captain Marvel. This is no, uh, marvel Marvell.

So not the most exciting. Although maybe when the Marvels Two comes out this fall, people will be interested.

In checking, rushing back to listen to it. And there was a third in that series we did, which was what if Spider Woman was a villain? But I guess one issue.

Yeah, it was one issue. Ah, a three story anthology. We did it for October 1 year as villains month, and so we covered all three stories, and one in three at least listened to came from that book, so not a popular one.

Jessica Drew, though you're much more popular than, uh, Johnny Blaise and Marvell.

All right, and now for our most Listened to episode ever. This was another interview episode with Marshiela, uh, Marcy Rockwell, the author of Marvel Untold Stories, sisters of Sorcery, a CLIA novel, and seven Psychos Dungeons and Dragons tie in novels and a whole lot more. Marcy is a prolific author and was so fun to talk to back when.

That was back in October 2022 for episode 65. One thing I think you and I are both always interested in, which we talked a lot with Marcy about, is what do you get to play with when you play in other people's sandboxes? So when you're getting to write these characters, do you get everything? Are there some things that are restricted? And also talking about how those restrictions can actually improve the creative process?

Yeah. All right, so those are our top ten most listened to episodes. And we have one final countdown for you. Mhm our final countdown are going to be our two favorite things about doing this show. So I will start us off. People. People. I think this is your number one also. It is, but it really is cool. I mean, even looking at our number one episode, Marcy. We met Marcy through Carrie Harris, another incredible interview that we did early on in the early on in our show. And we still talked to Carrie, and the fact that Carrie introduced us to Marcy, incredible. But there are so many people, so many other people that we haven't even named, who've joined us for the show or reached out online about the show, connected about the show. They support us on Coffee, some of them. Some people who we've been trying to schedule for months and months and months to be on the show. I mean, just all these people. But I think my favorite part of that is thinking a little bit about community. And you and I, especially this is, uh, odd, uh, sharing about our life. But you and I live between two places, geographically, and I think, therefore, feel multiple senses of community, but also in some ways, disconnected. And I will say for me that the last two years, I have felt like I have formed a community amongst these people. There are people who have been on this show and we've met through this show, who I text with every day, who I know things about their lives. We also get to talk about our love of comics, but we also know each other as people. And that is really cool. That is the dream of the potential that social media and, uh, the online world can offer us. And it has to do with this show. And so the people people for me, why did you say people as your number one?

I think it's the same thing. And I mentioned when we met Luciano at New York Comic Con, and that we met Kat Chiller Grudenwald at Comic Con, and we're able to get them on the show, and Janice Chang, who was recently, and that we were able to meet these folks and form relationships. But at the same time, many of the people that we formed these relationships with, we've never met in person. We only are speaking with on Zoom or on whatever transistor and then speaking on Riverside and speaking on Twitter. And it's really amazing that we're able to have these relationships while never actually being in the same place. And I think you're right. It's like, this is what social media should be doing, is bringing people together. And I think it's one thing that bonds us all together, is, sure, we can be critical of something, maybe that we read, but I think we all approach everything through the lens of positivity and being fans. None of us are out there to tear anything down. We're there to uplift things. Even if we don't always love it, we're not there, uh, to tear it down. So I think that's great.

Yeah. And my second favorite thing, I think, is your second favorite thing? We basically love the same things, though. Maybe you have different elements of it. My second favorite thing is this is why I thought of this format for the show. I like having a structured way of revisiting comics. I have, uh, an overwhelming amount of comics that I want to read. I own an overwhelming amount of comics and even things I want to reread or have never read from the past. And I like that this gives me some structure. I get to explore different stories for different reasons and fit them into our mold. And sometimes I'll even read stuff to consider it for our show and realize it's not a good fit for now or forever. And then I've read something different. So, for example, I just bought a, uh, Howard the Duck collection because I was scoping out some Howard the Duck to see if we'd cover it. And we will at some point. But in the meantime, I'm going to go read a bunch of Power of the Deck that I've never read before. So I just like having a structured way of revisiting comics. And you also said reading comics. So why is that one of your favorite revisiting?

I'll just say visiting comics. That's true. I have a big stack comics on my dresser, but I'm reading two books right now. I like to read my magazines, read the news. So sometimes it's hard to get to read comics. And I think without this podcast, I don't think I would be reading a fraction of the comics that I am reading, which is a fraction of the comics you're reading. But even taking something like One Bad Day, well, that's an amazing series. Those are all great stories. And would I read it on my own? Maybe. But I'm also reading it because, oh, these are alternate universe stories, so I'm going to read it. Maybe we're going to cover it one day. And we'd have covered a couple of them. So for me, it's like, oh, it's great. I was thinking back to this. It's the good thing about the summer reading list when you were in school, because there's, like, all these amazing books that school is forcing you to read, and you're going like, I don't want to read them. And then you read them and go, oh my God, to Killing mockingbird amazing. Would you have read it if they wasn't on that summer reading list? And I feel the same way about so much of the stuff that we're doing.

Fun. And I'm going to make a bonus pick, which is I love having a creative project that we do together. Mhm, I think it's very cool. You and I are both creative people and both love our jobs and don't get to express a lot of creativity in our jobs. So we've both always done creative side projects. So to have one creative side project that we can do together is very cool.

Yes, I agree. And I mean, I I thank you for really being, you know, the spark that got this going. You the all the what if TV series was coming out is like, we have to do a what if show before.

The TV show had nothing to do with it.

I thought that did.

No, that was why I was rushing it out.

Rushing because out.

Yes, I was waiting I don't know our listeners don't know this, but I'm going to out of for months, I was waiting for Elliot to join me as, uh, second banana, but Elliot's life is too busy and he was taking too long. And then I was like, all right, I need to get this going.

We're going to go to the second tier choice.

Exactly. And all right, fine. I guess I'll deal with Rob instead.

I'm much easier to schedule being that I am in the same house.

Exactly.

No, it's been great doing this creative project, and I think the cool thing is that it's actually sparked us wanting to do more creative projects, uh, both on our own, like these amazing books that you're working on that you mentioned or give us a hint at. And also creative projects that we are planning on doing together, which we hope to have more announcements about at some point.

Yes, that is true. That is true. So that is a wrap. That is our countdown. That is our 100th anniversary or 100th episode celebration. We appreciate you sticking with us for 100 episodes or two episodes or 20 episodes or for this episode if you just listen to this one. Thank you.

And yes, we have so many episodes you can go back and listen to. Please follow us on coffee. And if you can give us a 100 episode gift, please leave us a review on Apple podcasts. You're on Good Pods or wherever you listen to podcasts. It really helps with more people finding us.

And don't forget to listen all summer so that you can be eligible to win one of these comic bundles that we will give away on random episodes throughout the summer. We'll have special instructions for you on these really great comic bundles. Our way of saying thank you. We appreciate you keep listening. So in the words you want to.

Congratulations on 100 episodes and keep pondering the possibilities. Mhm.